The "Spicy Saloon" MSP build thread

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MSP, E38, E39
To get this thread up to date:



Quick intro for the car and I,

Car is a Spicy Orange 2003 Mazdaspeed Protege.

& my name is Gray Schilling, currently 23 years old, living in Ontario (canada)




Got the car in late summer 2011, one owner, 74xxx KM and driven for one winter (apparently). It had the usual dings, nicks, chips, and, some “surface rust.” But it was still sitting on the factory-equipped Bridgestone Potenza tires, and, aside from a air box delete, a stainless axle-back, an AutoMeter boost gauge, and window tint, it was stock.







And clean too. The interior was near perfect & it had been stored in an underground garage most of the time, so the paint was in good condition, and all original, except for a rear-ended bumper.





At first I wasn't sure about the orange, but it grew on me quick. I was surprised how nice it was to drive. I’ve driven a fair range of cars, but there was something special about this car. It’s not the quietest ride, but without feeling unrefined there’s a certain attractive rawness to the sounds it makes and the way it feels. Something some people may not like, but I personally find quite enjoyable. It’s the little things that add to the charm. Maybe the way the clutch pedal feels, or how satisfying it can be just running through gears. Maybe how its handling begs you to throw it around corners (especially with certain modifications), or how the nicely weighted steering feel gives you all the information you need. This thing may be front wheel driven but it is a proper fun driver’s car.




Did I mention 4x4 status?

As soon as I saw the car, I thought I might start modifying it right off the bat. I learned how rare the 03 Mazdaspeed Protege was, and that there was probably only a hand full of stock MSPs left, so I decided I would try to keep the car stock as much as possible.

But after a summer of that, there were a few things about being stock that weren't working for me..

Started spending a bit of money on her, new Kenwood headunit, Megan Racing lowering springs, HKS filter and 20mm bolt on spacers.





Did the blacked out thing for a minute, didn’t last.


But still, being so far from the ground didn’t work for me. I wanted the car to be lower, for handling reasons and, of course, cars just look better lower. The Protege is no exception; I knew its interesting mix of body lines would come into its own when brought closer to the floor.



That fall I ordered BC Racing BR “extreme drop series” with F-7k R-5k spring rates. Car handled better than I ever thought it could. Excessive body roll and under-steer were things of the past. But for some reason I was finding it hard to stay at a functional ride height..





Tucked some stock tyre..





Rusty flakes




I spend far too much time thinking about car ish. I needed the car to be less rusty. I like doing my own work, and rather not go to any shop or pay anyone for work that I can potentially do. So after much debate & considering many options, I choose to take on the chore myself. Everything including body work and paint, all to be done in my dad’s shop/garage. This is where I thank my parents, again, for letting me use their garage for two months.

Spring 2013; when I wasn't at work, I was in the garage. Under there for weeks, kept finding more rust, mostly surface crap you can grind back to bare metal, but some spots needed more extensive repairs. I took care of everything I could reach. Bumpers, fenders, and skirts came off, along with the rear sub frame, suspension, and other bits.










That's ten years of ish. Mostly old undercoating, rustly flakes and dirt, but all from under the car.

Repainting the rear arches was the most intimidating part of the plan; I wanted them to look clean, well done, and to repaint the smallest area possible. Plus I had never painted a single panel, let alone done a color matched paint fade, complete with a clear coat blend.

I had obviously heard Spicy was hard to match. Even had one guy I took it to say he didn't want to try, unless we repainted the whole car. But I wanted to leave as much factory metal & paint intact as possible. Being a perfectionist and a beginner is difficult.










After a lot of research, practice, trial and error, and mad sanding, it happened. Along with half of the underneath of the car, the front passenger fender, and some spots in the engine bay, I refinished the rear arches, and proud of it. Not professional work, but all things considered, it’s good enough for me, for now.














I definitely packed too much mid coat in there, so the fenders and front splitter ended up a little “spicier.” But it doesn’t bother me, at least it looks better than that repainted rear bumper.

Here's a shot that really shows my work; you can see where the spicy fades out, the clear blends out an inch or two above that. (Don't mind the sanding marks etc, I wasn't even half way done with sanding and buffing when this shot was taken.)


Again, hadn't done my final buffing yet but shows the work.





While the car was up I installed a few items and modified some others;

Fly slotted my front BC camber plates,
Installed Ksport rear plates, with custom spring perches and ball joint washers.
Megan Racing adjustable rear lateral links.
Upgraded to a proper quality SMIC.
AEM wideband.
Bronze oil shifter bushings.
Nyoil shift linkage – tranny brace bushing.
Grip Royal “Royal Grain” 355mm Mahogany steering wheel.
NRG hub adaptor, with custom spacer, horn connector, and turn signal disengaging mechanism.
Sparco horn button.
Custom “cold air box.”
Powerslot rear rotors.
Custom shift boot, & custom gauge surround/dual pod mount (both made by a M247 members.)
And some other bits like Hawk pads, NGK Copper core BKR7E, CR3 ADP, two tone horn, Mcgarts black lugs + some interior stuff and a few things I've forgotten.










After almost eight weeks off the ground, I missed her. When I finally got everything back together, the rear brakes leaked all over.. and had to be replaced. But when I finally did get that first drive, it felt unreal.



It also felt quite good to finally wash, clay, and buff the entire car.





Spicy Saloon's first day at work.









It really handles very nice set this low; dropping the center of gravity makes a huge difference. Some people might call it stiff, but it's still street-able even on rough roads. Damping feels good, once the sweet spot is found. No bounce whatsoever. Cruising, especially highway driving is quite nice, holds in the bends so well and with the front camber set around -3* & toe set to 0 the turn in and grip are amazing. I never thought a FWD car could handle like that. The front sub-frame may be less than 3” front the pavement now, but aside from careful maneuvering, especially on steep drive ways and speed bumps, you could almost go so far as to use the F word, “functional.”
(popcorn)










Later summer 2013;













Lapping with the touge.ca guys at Cayuga





Got my hands on a Split Second AFC.. which turned out to be the wrong unit (not the one designed for the MSP.) And went on a turkey hunt. I wanted to kill the turkey without a BOV, and just refine the stock system. Fortunately I found a BoostSciences Reflex Diverter Valve on this forum, and with a customized TurboHoses hot pipe and SU intake both with 1” BPV fittings to match the 1” RDV, the turkey was killed.



Unfortunately without the SSAFC to lean me out in boost, the car is now very slow. The hesitation is bad, really bad. Before, as long as you didn’t push it at lower engine RPM or go WOT, I could spool up slow and the upper range torque was enjoyable. But now if I even think of going near boost the wideband instantly goes way off the scale rich, and the car hesitates so bad it’s actually slows down in boost..

On a positive note; boost comes back after gear changes much, much faster, and with the intake hard-pipe, and that cold air box, she sounds so much sexier spooling up.

Instead of pulling the parts back out I decided to wait till next spring when I’ll have another SSAFC unit, opting to put the car away early, and switch to driving the winter car, which now felt like it had more power..


Here is how she currently sits (end of season 2013);













Stoked for this coming season!
 
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Excellent build, one of my favorite Spicy's by FAR! I like it better without the front subie lip.
 
Nice, I applaud you personally undertaking the paint restoration especially with a color like spicy...
 
Thank you very much gents! (rei)


Added a couple shots to the first post.

And here's where I'm at right now;



"Fitting" a new WRX front splitter / prepping it for paint.

& Starting a headlight retrofit

 
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Love this car!

Nice work on all the rust removal, can't wait to see it together this season.
 
I love how your car looks and your interior is so clean. It makes me want to paint my P5 spicy orange. I think I just might have too. I'm looking into getting that steering wheel too.
 
The amount of decent condition spicy's there are left is depressing :( I want to do all that painting stuff myself, but it seems very intimidating...

Very clean. Love how you've kept it very stock looking and yet very modified. Similar to my plans.
 
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